Dolores O'Riordan @ House of Blues, 7/19/07
Thursday night at the House of Blues Sunset, I went to brave the crowd I'd expected to come out and see Ms. O'Riordan's solo show. As a fan of The Cranberries, much like just about everyone else in attendance, I thought maybe some of that fire would be on display. Well, there were firetrucks and ambulances, but no fire...
I was very excited to see the show, even after I listened to her new album "Are You Listening?" (yes, I am...), just less so than I had been before. The album didn't really grab me, there wasn't the passion or burning intensity of her previous collaborative work. But I figured that the live show would definitely be kick ass.
And it surely started out that way. O'Riordan started the show off, in her punkster get up (seems like she might have been styled by Gwen Stefani), with a loud and lovely rendition of The Cranberries 'Zombie'. Fucking amazing. She followed with two songs from her album. Reaching down to touch crowd members, who were screaming 'We came here just for you!', she abruptly turns around and asks for the lights to be dimmed.
This is where this became the most interesting show I have ever been to, which may not be saying much really. She then calls for an ambulance. Now from my point of view, from the second floor balcony, I couldn't see much. I rushed downstairs but by then, the screen had been let down to obscure the audience's view.
Waiting around for a few minutes, peeping out the mass of HOB staff crowding on the stage to help, I asked a few audience members what had happened. A pair of young ladies told me they saw the drummer, Graham Hopkins, collapse on stage. And so it was - a few minutes afterwards, the lady announcer comes over the PA system to tell us that due to unforeseen circumstances, the show had been canceled.
As the audience rushed out of the venue, I stopped to look back at things, the people rushing out, the firemen and paramedics rushing in, red and white lights flashing. It seems that Mr. Hopkins had a seizure on stage that night. I haven't been able to get in contact with her publicist to find out if he has a pre-existing condition that causes seizures or if this was related to other causes.
It seems however, that O'Riordan's tour is in jeopardy because there is no back up drummer. To cancel the tour would be such an unfortunate act. There was so much promise in the brevity of the performance, so much electricity in her voice and between her and the crowd. It would be a shame for that to not be experienced by her fans. If nothing more than younger fans like me, who never got to go to a Cranberries concert. The music may be a little different but the intensity, at least on stage, feels the same.